It's Your Moral Obligation

There are some things about living in Africa that are definitely different than back home in the States – one of them being water. Right now, we have it pretty good here in Addis Ababa. City water comes in pretty frequently, but it is not reliable in pushing water through every time a faucet is opened. So, we have a 1000 liter tank on the roof of our house, which then gravity feeds all the toilets, showers and sinks in the house. Then we have a second tank on the ground, holding an extra 1000 liters of reserve water. It’s not uncommon for the upper tank to run dry, notifying us that water hasn’t come into the house for a day or two. So at that time, two things happen. First, if there is electricity, we pump a portion of our 1000 reserve liters to the roof tank.  Then, we go into water conversation mode – only sponge showers, minimal dish washing, and sharing toilet flushes. The classic toilet rule during water conservation mode is “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.” Pretty self explanatory.

 

Lately, our water has been pretty reliable, but I had another concern growing within me (other than the amoeba colony mentioned previously). You see, tanks of stagnant reserve water are great places for unwanted algae to thrive. After learning that there are no “self cleaning” buttons on these contraptions and getting an algae eating fish has other downsides, I accepted it as my responsibility to make sure that our water is clean. Last January (or so), I and our housemate, Grant, valiantly cleaned it out for the first time and thinking that we was good for another year, I was soon disappointed. The first time we had to pump up our reserve water everything was fine. But, apparently, when the city water returned, it came with a free starter kit for growing your own water tank scum! Within a week of this refill, the water was already turning green (don’t worry all of our drinking water is filtered separately).

 

So, again, yesterday came the time for reserve tank cleaning. This time I decided to include you in the process as Andrea took excellent pictures along the way. So sit back and watch an expert at work!

 

1) Get dressed up in old clothes, rubber boots, gloves, and a breathing mask doesn’t hurt either.

2) Turn off the water coming in from the city.

3) Using a sawed-shorted broom, scrub the inside walls to knock off as much junk as possible.

4) Then, while stirring up the water, empty the tank water most of the way - using the drain spout and buckets.

5) With a few awkward contortions of your body, get yourself into the tank where you will remain in the squatted position for the next 30-45 minutes.

6) Armed with multiple types of brushes and steel wool, begin scrubbing the walls all around you. Be sure not to sit down in the nastiness that lies below you. Yes, you can fit two people inside the tank - working back to back (Our housemate Lumi took Grant’s place in the fun!).

7) Have someone hand you a hose to wash down the scrubbed walls.

8) With buckets and cups, bail out the rinsing water (and scrubbed junk).

9) Remove thyself from the tank (easier said than done for some).

10) Buy a big yellow bottle of bleach and spray it all over on the inside of the tank. Then spread it around with the saw-shortened broom (here the breathing mask is especially nice).

11) Let the bleach sit for about 20-30 minutes.

12) Again wash the walls with the garden hose and bail out the bleach water with buckets.

13) Finally, turn the city water on and watch your tank fill up with lovely blue water! It’s a satisfying sight – and it smells like a swimming pool!

 

That should do it, but I warn you, knowledge is a powerful thing. If you ever find yourself as a short term missionary to Addis Ababa, armed with knowledge of such an essential and honorable task, you are under moral obligation to offer your services. Oh and for your planning, we’ll probably be doing it again in late summer so you may want to book your airplane tickets now! I know Sweet T is looking forward to when he is big enough to join in the fun!